Denise (SSBHS)
Denise is a playable veteran character in Super Smash Bros. High School: Reborn. She returned yet again in her same attire and looks in the sequel. Attributies Denise is suspended somewhere between a light and medium hitter in terms of knockback, but as an in-close brawler she excels. She has plenty of ways to rack up damage on her opponents, but getting the KOing blow can be difficult. At low damage percentages, Denise is fantastic against her opponents, wielding the deadly combination of her down throw, down aerial, and floating ability to easily build damage on foes. Though Denise does have problems scoring KOs when her opponents reach higher percentages, her best KO move is her forward aerial, and can be easily used in conjunction with her floating to give her the ability to retreat or approach multiple times while using her forward aerial. Though the move has noticeable start-up lag, this can be remedied with timing it properly. Outside of her forward aerial though, Denise does have an issue with attack range, relying on glide to approach. Denise's slow dash speed also hurts her approach. Often it is advisable for Denise players to attack necessity. As mentioned, Denise has a number of attacks with large hitboxes, including her forward aerial princess leg, her down aerial foot stomping, and her high-speed jab, all of which allow her to break through the attacks of many other characters. Like a number of characters in SSBHSR, Denise doesn't have much of a problem returning to the stage, and can easily use her up special repetitively to stall at the edge, thus making her the only character that can come in and out of her helpless state after using her special jump, as it is difficult to find an opening while she is doing so. Despite having an excellent horizontal recovery, her recovery is very predictable and isn't very good vertically due to having the shortest second jump in the game and the poor vertical distance on Gothic Wind. Should the opponent try to recover, she has the option to use her down smash or the odd hitbox of her down tilt to spike. The down smash will simply stage-spike instead of being an actual meteor smash. Denise has a few main flaws. Firstly, she has a very poor air defense; her air dodge actually has more lag (30 frames) than invincibility frames (frames 4 to 19). Being light, floaty, and having by far the worst air dodge in the game, she can easily get juggled. Her down aerial can help a bit, but only against attacks with less range. Secondly, she can have problems with KOs. With only her forward aerial to turn to for reliable KOs, and it being a good move in normal combat, Denise has a hard time finding a solution for finishing off her enemies. The knockback of her forward smash varies unpredictably, her down-smash has been downgraded to near uselessness outside of interrupting attacks, and her up smash must be sweet-spotted at the top of her hand to actually send the opponent far. What it comes down to is that enemies will be expecting the forward aerial at high percentages, and thus it is relatively predictable despite being such a good move. Changes from SSBHS to SSBHS Reborn While her moveset appears to be relatively unchanged, Denise has been notably buffed overall from Super Smash Bros. High School to SSBHSR. Her Ground game has been particularly improved thanks to her stronger Smash attack, faster Gothic Bomber and tilt attacks leading to many follow ups. Futhermore, her dash attack, forward aerial and back throw received significant increases in knockback, filling out her lack of finishing moves, a prominent weakness she had in SSBHS. Likewise, Denise's approaches from below are safer with the gain of a new up aerial. Aesthetics * Denise has a new running animation based on her running animation from Super Baxter Anime. * Many new animations accompany Peach's established attacks in the form of hearts, rainbows, and magic sparkles. * Double jump has greater vertical height. * Denise is slightly lighter than she was in SSBHS. * Jab has less range and deals less damage (5%, down from 6%). * Dash attack's second hit deals more damage (6%, up from 4%) and knockback, making it a reliable KO move. The first hit also no longer has knockback growth, so the hits always connect even at higher percentages. * Forward tilt and down tilt are faster and deal increased hitstun, benefiting their combo potential. * Forward tilt and down tilt deal less damage (7%, down from 10%) and knockback, reducing their KO potential. They also have less range. * Up tilt's Sweetspot has a much less favourable placement, covering a small part of Denise's body, as opposed to her blast in SSBHS. Furthermore, the Sourspot is weaker in both damage and knockback (being unable to KO until 200%). * Forward smash has greater range and knockback. It also cycles regularly between a tennis racket, a golf club, and frying pan. * Up smash's sweet spot has a much more favourable placement, covering a large portion of Denise's body, as opposed to her hand in SSBHS. Furthermore, the sour spot is stronger in both damage and knockback (being able to KO around 100%). * Down smash has a greater amount of possible hits (5, up from 4), deals more knockback (now being able to KO around 150% offstage), and gained the ability to trap opponents into it, allowing each further hit to connect more reliably. * Down smash deals less damage (3-5% per hit, down from 5-7%). * Forward aerial has more knockback and greater reach, allowing Peach to strike opponents farther forward as well as above and under her. * Forward aerial and back aerial auto-cancels later. * Back and down aerial deals less damage. * Denise gained a new up aerial: an arm swipe that draws a dark purple shape of a rainbow. It consists of two hits dealing 4% and 6% respectively. It has greater reach, a disjointed hitbox, and better juggling abilities. * Down aerial deals slightly more knockback and is much harder to SDI out of. * Back throw has received a significant increase in knockback, making it her strongest throw. * Down throw deals slightly more damage (8%, up from 7%) and has good follow-up knockback. * Gothic Crystal's hitboxes is stronger at a close range. * Gothic Bomber is much faster and gained the ability to hit shields. * Peach Bomber deals less damage (10%, down from 15%). * Peach Parasol is faster, covers more vertical height, and has enough knockback to KO or stage spike at reasonable percentages. * Princess Kick takes less start-up lag. * Dragon Princess is more larger and stronger. Moveset Ground *Neutral Attack: *Side Tilt: *Up Tilt: *Down Tilt: *Dash Attack: Smash *Side Smash: *Up Smash: *Down Smash: Ariel Attack *Neutral Ariel: *Forward Ariel: *Back Ariel: *Up Ariel: *Down Ariel: Grab attacks *Grab: *Pummel: *Forward Throw: *Back Throw: *Up Throw: *Down Throw: Special Moves Taunts *Up: *Side: *Down: On Screen Apperance Trophies Alternate Costume Trivia Category:Super Smash Bros. High School: Reborn